An
activity you can do alone, with friends, or as a whole class, before,
during, or after reading Things Fall Apart.

In your first visit to Umuofia think
of yourself as a thoughtful and open-minded tourist. You want to learn the layout
of the village and closely examine the people and objects you find there.

Enter into the Village of Umuofia
from the WMU Literary Worlds Portal. To simply visit Umuofia you can enter as a "Guest," no password needed. Proceed
first to the Things Fall Apart Room from which you can enter into the
"Village Square."

You will want to visit every "room"
in the village. For this it may be helpful to study the Village
of Umuofia Map, which you could keep open in a separate browser window, if you wish. You will also want to look at all of the objects and images
in each "room." Learn how to use the "say" command," so you can talk with others in the village. (Once in the world your character "speaks" when you click on "say," type in
text, and hit the "return" key.)

Choose three images of people, places,
or objects that interest you, carefully study them, and write at least a paragraph
about each one. Your paragraph can address these questions:

What do you notice in the image?
What questions do you have about what you see? What might be the "back
story" to this image? How does the image compare with what you might
have imagined from reading Things Fall Apart?

If you enter the Village of Umuofia
at the same time as other students you can share your comments with them using
the "say" command.

Some of the "rooms" or
objects play traditional West African Music by Yaya
Diallo.

What role does music play
in the novel, Things Fall Apart? What can you learn from the internet
about traditional African music? Do you like this kind of music? How has it
influenced music around the world?

Who took these photographs? Why
were they taken? Are they consistent culturally and historically with the
descriptions found in Things Fall Apart? What might the villagers
have thought about the photographer and having their pictures taken? In what
sense are the photographs "posed"?